Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio on Friday presented a new decree regarding asylum seekers which he said will cut the time it takes for a decision on whether a migrant should be repatriated to four months.
"It was a team effort," 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Di Maio told a press conference at the foreign ministry.
"I thank (Justice) Minister (Alfonso) Bonafede, Premier (Giuseppe) Conte and (Interior) Minister (Luciana) Lamorgese because this morning we signed a ministerial decree that enables us to bring down the measures to establish if a migrant can stay in Italy from two years to four months".
The decree is the "first step of our plan for safe repatriations", he added, stressing that it will "bring from two years to four months repatriations to a series of countries".
The foreign minister told the press conference that "over the last 14 months everything regarding repatriations stopped, we are still in year zero".
Di Maio also told the press conference that he doesn't think "redistribution is the final solution" but rather "an important step to halt departures". The countries listed in the new repatriation program are: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Albania, Bosnia, Cape Verde, Ghana, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Senegal, Serbia and Ukraine. Di Maio thanked Morocco in particular, observing that Italy "has not strengthened its relations" with the country over the past few years. He promised he will be paying a visit to the country soon and that he will also travel to Tunisia to meet a "mixedItalian-Tunisian working group to implement the agreement on repatriations".
Justice Minister Bonafede said the decree "enables to halve the entire procedure" to determine whether a migrant should be granted international protection or repatriated by "having a list of safe countries". He also publicly thanked magistrates who " process so many applications", adding that the new decree gives much-needed help to the members of the judiciary.
The foreign minister also told the press conference that migrants' rights will be protected by Italy's constitution and legislation which "safeguard the rights of the individual", answering to a reporter's question on the list of countries that will sign repatriation agreements with Italy. "We will verify with our structures that individual rights are not violated", he added. "We are working to avoid the 'pull factor"' for migrants, by giving a "clear message that those who need help are welcome but those who, based on international rules, cannot stay here will be repatriated", Di Maio said.
Interior Minister Lamorgese said the decree was not a "magic wand" because immigration was a structural problem.
Meanwhile police chief Franco Gabrielli came out against fines for migrant rescue NGOs.
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